TreVante- From Secular to Christian R&B
Published on May 22, 2024
TreVante Halliburton is no stranger to the hard work demanded of him by the notoriously competitive music industry. While most teenage boys were worried about grades and girls, TreVante was perfecting his craft on the road to stardom.
The Beginning -Tre’
His journey began in 2005 with a 792 mile drive from Houston, TX to Atlanta, GA. Looking to take advantage of the opportunities of the thriving music industry in Atlanta, TreVante branded himself as “Tre'” and his mother established Sel Sum Records [Record Label], where TreVante released his first two singles, “That Girl” and “Baby Girl” , which were written and produced by his father Joe “Simply” Halliburton.
Soon after the release, he secured a major distribution deal with FYE (12 yr old Tre’ at this time) and embarked on a regional in‐store tour of the South to promote the records and build his fan base. “Baby Girl” hit the Billboard charts and spent 15 weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart and peaked at #50. “Baby Girl” then later hit #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop single sales for multiple weeks beating out Chris Brown, Ray J, NeYo & more. “Baby Girl” ended up selling over 80,000 units independently. In 2007, TreVante also became apart of Radio Disney’s Incubator which broadcasted worldwide and aided to his success. The FYE tour as well as radio airplay opened the door for future tours as TreVante began an aggressive schedule performing and meeting with artists such as Bow Wow, B5, Keke Palmer, Romeo, Jagged Edge, Crime Mob, Jonas Brothers and Nick Cannon just to name a few. TreVante also had a role in Lil JJ’s Nickelodeon (Ralph Farquhar produced) show “Just Jordan”. Alongside this, he also went on to perform on Lil JJ’s stand up comedy special “Almost Grown”. TreVante used his time to grow as a performer and let his talents demonstrate how incredibly gifted he was as an artist. “I love performing. I feel like I can just be myself. It doesn’t matter if I’ve had a bad day or whatever it is, I can be myself and just let go,” says Trevante. “I love it. It’s the best feeling in the world next to recording.” Drawing inspiration from his musical influences that include Prince, The Carpenters, New Edition, El Debarge, Aaron Carter, Brandy, Pink, The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) and the Backstreet Boys, Trevante has been able to create his own unique sound that he compared to a jukebox, “…because you never know what to expect. You can put me under any genre but I just want to make good music so I just call it jukebox”.
Introducing TreVante
His performances, eclectic sound and work ethic attracted the attention of industry heavy weights and TreVante inked a major deal with Imani Entertainment Group / Geffen Records in 2011 and officially re-branded and changed his name to “TreVante”. “He is the total package,” says Manny Halley ( President of Imani Entertainment), “Not only does he sing, he is a phenomenal dancer. He is an incredible artist.” By the summer of 2011, he embarked on BET’s “Closer to My Dreams” tour alongside fellow heartthrobs Mindless Behavior, Lil Twist, Tyga, Diggy Simmons and Jawan Harris. This era was coined by fans as “a time to be alive” as frequent viral posts highlighted the artists alongside TreVante who blazed the charts during that time. Shortly after, TreVante also opened up for selected dates on Mindless Behavior’s “All Around the World Tour” as well as being featured alongside Jacob Latimore on Jive recording artist Jawan Harris’ “Keisha Remix”.
TreVante has had the opportunity to co-write and collaborate with some of the industry’s elite producers, artists and writers over the years: Chris Brown, Dark Child, Rico Love, Diane Warren, The Underdogs, Eric Bellinger, Diamond Love (which was recorded by Jacob Latimore), Vedo, Shameik Moore, Harmony “H Money”, Samuels & more. Trevante also co-wrote one of the biggest hits of the era with Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis of the writing and production team “The Clutch”. He has not only co-written a historic hit for the OMG Girlz, (i.e. “Where the Boys At” in which hit #1 on 106 & Park for multiple weeks with over 18M+ views and #77 on the Billboard charts), TreVante was also able to secure a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Publishing. At the top of 2012, TreVante’s first single “Be Your First”, which was written and produced by Tank, was an instant hit allowing him and Tank to perform live on the world renowned Wendy Williams Show among others. TreVante then dropped a 2-part movie-like music video directed by Benny Boom which included “Be Your First” and “Forever” (produced by Rico Love). Both music videos including “Bad Girl”, hit the 106 & Park top 10 countdown with “Be My Girl” peaking at #6. He later returned to 106 & Park in 2013 with “Bad Girl” featuring Lil Twist, which also peaked at #6 on the countdown.
Boy Band Dreams – Bluff City
In 2014 TreVante decided to fulfill his childhood dream of doing what he always wanted to do, which was to be in an all male r&b group. He joined Bluff City as the seasoned veteran with the sultry soprano tone. The boys began posting videos on YouTube while building a fan-base, and with their passion, gifts and that southern charm, they began to make their mark. They dropped a few projects and covers and had features from TK-n-Cash and Kevin Gates. Later that year, Bluff City signed a deal with Noon-time (NNtme) management & signed with writing & production team “The Exclusives”. In 2018, the group had their first taste of chart success with the Troy Taylor assisted R&B hit “Let Me Show You” co-written by Vedo and Bluff City. “Let Me Show You” later topped the Billboard charts at #20 (Urban AC). Bluff City was the first group in over a decade to reach that achievement. Later that year, they became a trio and collaborated with as well as joined Cash Money R&B crooner Jacquees live on stage at the Soul Train Music Awards and also opened for him on both his “4275” and “King of R&B” tours. “Tonight It’s Us” (a Jacquees and Bluff City collaboration) has over a million plays and continues to generate 5,000 streams weekly. Bluff City continued to see their hard work pay off in various ways. Whether it was by creating a hit song with Quavo (Migos) ”All You Need” (which has over 10 million views on Youtube), Providing vocals on “Your Peace” by Lil Baby (which is a certified Gold single) or releasing two albums independently, Bluff City continued to fill that R&B void. The group was known to blaze the R&B trails by reigniting the nostalgic tunes of 90’s R&B with a modern-day twist.
He is TreVante
Now, as TreVante rebrands himself as a solo Contemporary Gospel Artist, he is determined to remind his fans that he has only gotten better with time. TreVante has been coined by the industry as a certified musical genius with his pen; In which he plans on upholding as he writes his new projects. TreVante currently has multiple solo projects in the works. His first inspirational solo EP entitled “Anointed” is set to be released by the end of the 2024 year with his first singles being “Remember”, as well as “Anointed”. His new sound is a perfectly mixed blend of contemporary gospel, inspirational R&B, inspirational pop and conscious hip hop; In which he and his team has coined as “Gospel Gumbo”. Some of his inspirations for for this new sound are Fred Hammond, J Moss, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Keith Staten, The Walls Group, Commissioned, Madison Ryann Ward, Amy Grant, Jordin Sparks, Corbin Bleu, Celine Dion, Heather Headley, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.
In an age when most artists are developed online, TreVante took the road less traveled by setting his musical foundation on stage and in the studio; A foundation that will undoubtedly make this extraordinarily talented young man a force to be watched for years to come in the Contemporary Gospel community.
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